xXx: The Return of Xander Cage

Taglines: There are no more patriots, just rebels and tyrants.

The film opens with a satellite falling out of orbit and hurtling toward Earth. In Brazil, Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) is trying to recruit Neymar, Jr. in a restaurant for a position as the next xXx agent. Neymar declines because he doesn’t see himself as a hero. Moments later, a thief enters and tries to rob the place with a gun. Neymar grabs a napkin dispenser and kicks it at the guy’s head. Gibbons is excited and starts trying to get Neymar in the program, but the satellite crashes down and blows the place up.

At the CIA headquarters, Jane Marke (Toni Collette) is telling her colleagues about what caused the satellite to crash: a military device known as Pandora’s Box. The people that crashed the satellite can use Pandora’s Box to bring any other military satellite down like a warhead. Meanwhile, four people – Xiang (Donnie Yen), Serena (Deepika Padukone), Talon (Tony Jaa), and Hawk (Michael Bisping) – infiltrate the headquarters and start taking out all the agents one by one. Xiang is quick with his hands and feet, and he swipes Pandora’s Box from them. The team makes their escape. Marke then tells her superior that Gibbons knew someone who could handle these guys.

Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) has been living in the Dominican Republic. He skis from a tower and picks up a skateboard from some people in town before riding his board to fix an electrical issue that allows everyone to view the soccer game. Xander then goes home to his girlfriend Lola (Ariadna Gutierrez), and then leaves her some love-making.

Xander goes to Santo Domingo and notices something suspicious. An American man sits next to him on a bench and leaves a bag on the ground. Xander opens it and sees a bomb inside. Immediately, a SWAT team comes in and tells Xander to not move, then to get on his knees. Xander starts being a smartass to annoy the captain. Marke steps out and admits to everything being a ruse, which Xander knew about already. Marke starts trying to get Xander to rejoin the xXx program and mentions that Gibbons is dead.

Xander joins Marke in a church as they discuss the situation with Xiang and his team. Xander isn’t eager to rejoin the program as he has been enjoying his self-imposed exile, but he mentions someone he knows in London that can help.

xXx: Return of Xander Cage (released as xXx: Reactivated in some countries) is a 2017 American action film directed by D. J. Caruso and written by F. Scott Frazier. The film stars Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, Toni Collette, and Samuel L. Jackson. It is the third installment in the xXx franchise and a sequel to both xXx (2002) and xXx: State of the Union (2005).

Unlike the previous films, which were distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film was released by Paramount Pictures on January 20, 2017, in 2D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D. This also marks the first film produced by Revolution Studios in ten years since 2007’s The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $346 million worldwide against a production budget of $85 million, making it the highest-grossing film of Revolution Studios and in the franchise.